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Ropley - Still here!

TomE

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Hi All.

 

Blimey, was it really September the last time I updated the blog!

 

To be honest, Ropley has had something of an early winter hibernation, but the last week has seen some progress made with the embankment and groundwork on top of it. Those who know the real Ropley will have seen the recent landscaping which has taken place here, with the removal of the miniature railway and the regrading and resurfacing of the upper car park. As this work happened just before the scenic 'cut off' date I have now imposed, it required that the top of the embankment was remodelled also.

 

This was done by cutting the basic shape of the carpark from card, and gluing it on top of the existing terrain. The surrounding landscape was then built up using polyfiller, before being sanded to shape once dry. The Real carpark is edged with old sleepers, and so a thin strip of plastic was fixed around the edge and sprayed brown. The carpark surface was then created using the trusty old Normady Earth Powder fixed in place with Kleer.

 

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As a little experiment, I sieved some Treemendus Forest Floor scatter and brushed it to the edges to try and represent dead leaves. You can just make out the effect in the photos, and once the treeline to the rear of the carpark is installed I think it should look quite convincing.

 

The steps down from the carpark to the footpath and bridge were made up from plastic and again sprayed brown before being fixed in place. The actual footpath surface is yet more Normandy Earth powder, only this time it has a dusting of black weathering powder applied whilst still damp.

 

The photo of the real location shows how it should look, and hopefully the model is somewhere close!

 

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Also recently installed is the relay box just opposite the water tower. This required a small amount of embankment to be dug out being being fixed on a small platform to bring it up to the required height. The box itself is a stock Ratio one, sprayed with Halfords grey primer and then just given a dusting with the weathering powders. The limited clearance sign was made by very carefully painting two red squares on a piece of paper then cutting it to the required size. A thin piece of wire was then glued to the back and painted grey. It makes an interesting comparison with those on the rear of the fuel pump shelter, which were printed and look a little faded!

 

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So, not a great deal of progress, but a few small steps in the right direction. I would like to have a concerted push over the next couple of weeks to get some of the outstanding jobs done, including finishing up the dimensions of the bridge so I can get this off to PHD for etching. I've also done some groundwork on the shed and wheeldrop building and hope to make a start on these quite soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Tom.

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  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
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Good to see you back Tom

 

Very nice work as always - How will you treat the scenic break...does that bridge sit in front of it to act as a screen?

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TomE
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Thanks Pete. 

 

The scenic break is hidden mostly by the carriage & boiler shop building (The green shed to the right in the 3rd pic down) The fascia panel also helps to hide it a little when attached. 

 

I've made the opening as small as I could to keep it as well hidden as possible, although I did have to make a small adjustment to allow the Dapol 9F to pass through as you might be able to see in the 2nd photo! 

 

On reflection, if I had known they were planning on installing the bridge when the project started, I would have pushed everything to the right slightly and made more of a feature of the engine shed on this board. 

 

Tom. 

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D869

As usual your ground textures look great Tom. How do you do the tarmac?

 

Regards, Andy

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TomE
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As usual your ground textures look great Tom. How do you do the tarmac?

 

Regards, Andy

 

Thanks Andy. If you mean the dark grey area on top of the embankment, it's actually just the same material used for ballast but with black weathering powder applied whilst the Kleer is still slightly wet. In reality this is just a gravel pathway. 

 

 

Lovely work as usual Tom. Is that the new Farish Duchess in the first photo?

 

 

Thanks Jeremy. It is the new Duchess. Somewhat out of place at Ropley, but the plan is to convert it to represent Duchess of Sutherland on the premise that it could one day visit the line!

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

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cornish trains jez

Hi Tom,

 

How long do you leave the Klear to dry before brushing on the weathering powder? I fancy giving this a go but I don't want the ballast to start moving as I'm brushing the powder on.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

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TomE
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Usually until it is more or less dry, otherwise you risk disturbing it. You can apply it After about 5-10 minutes by tapping it from a brush then blowing the excess away, which works for areas where you might want to represent a finer surface finish.

 

Tom.

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cornish trains jez

Usually until it is more or less dry, otherwise you risk disturbing it. You can apply it After about 5-10 minutes by tapping it from a brush then blowing the excess away, which works for areas where you might want to represent a finer surface finish. Tom.

 

Cheers.

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